Violence between police and civilians in Rajasthan given false communal spin - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
27th March 2021 / 9:04 pm / Last updated: 19th July 2021
Video footage of a mob beating two policemen has gone viral on social media. It also shows the crowd attacking another officer who tried to save his colleague. The video has been shared with the viral claim, “The incident is from Bareilly. Civil Lines News police were beaten for giving a ticket. This is a challenge to the law. The video shows what will happen to Hindustan in the future. This is everyone’s future.”
बरेली सिविल लाईन्स न्यूज़ पुलिस द्वारा चालान काटने पर मुसलमानों ने उनकी पिटाई की जो कानून को चुनौती है! यह वीडियो बताता है की आगे हिन्दुस्तान मे क्या क्या होगा | कौन देश चलायेगा! और सबका भविष्य क्या होगा..? pic.twitter.com/IXyZgqhkxX
— हिन्दू शेरनी टीम पं. नेतन्याहू (@its_pallu) July 14, 2021
The video is quite widespread on Facebook. Alt News has also received verification requests on its WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160).
The same clip was shared in March with users questioning how policemen can protect Hindus in Rajasthan’s Mewat if they themselves are not safe. “Being a Hindu in a Muslim-dominated area is hellish,” the claim further said. (Archive link)
यह देखो राजस्थान का मेवात सीकरी तहसील भरतपुर में कश्मीर का नजारा
जब पुलिस ही सुरक्षित नहीं तो मेवात में हिंदू कैसे सुरक्षित रहेगा
मु’स्लिम आबादी मैं हिंदू का रहना नर्क के बराबर है pic.twitter.com/m7qanbd0Um
— シ︎❤︎भगवा शेरनी❤︎シ︎🚩 (@Bhagwa_Sherni22) March 23, 2021
It was being suggested that a Muslim mob assaulted the police officers.
मुस्लिम भीड द्वारा पुलिसवालों की घनघोर पिटाई।
जो पुलिस खुद की सुरक्षा ना कर पाए वो हिन्दुओं की क्या खाक़ सुरक्षा करेगी?
कोई फैक्ट चैक करके कृपया इसे बांग्लादेश या पाकिस्तान की बता दे वरना देश का मासूम टोपीवाला फिर से बदनाम हो जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/PoK7Aak6mZ
— Ach. Ankur Arya (@AchAnkurArya) March 24, 2021
Laxmikant Bhardwaj, associated with the BJP, also posted the video. However, his caption only stated that the incident is from Mewat, Rajasthan.
Alt News performed a reverse image search of a still from the video, which led us to a Dainik Bhaskar story dated March 23. It states that the incident occurred in Jurhara, located near the border of Bharatpur and Haryana. A constable of the Punhana police station in Haryana came to Jurahara to investigate a case. While passing through the market, his police car collided with another vehicle. A row broke out between the policemen and the young people in the other car. The matter escalated to such an extent that the angry youths grabbed the constable and beat him up.
Bharatpur police also tweeted that the incident is from Jurahara.
उक्त संबंध में वृत अधिकारी कामा एवं थानाधिकारी जुरहरा को अवगत करा दिया गया है
— Bharatpur Police (@BharatpurPolice) March 23, 2021
We reached out to IG Prasanna Khamesra of the Bharatpur range. “This incident is from February 23. And it did occur in Jurahara town but no members of the Rajasthan police were involved. A few officers from the Haryana police had come to the town, and there is no communal angle here either. A minor girl and boy had fled to Jurahara, which the local police informed the Haryana police. When the Haryana police came to retrieve the two, their car collided with a local leader’s vehicle. The matter took a violent turn after the head constable of the Haryana police beat up one or two men. The locals retaliated by beating the policeman. The commotion was eventually resolved. Punhana SHO also reached the scene, and both sides mutually decided not to file a report,” he said.
“The online claim that Mewat police is unsafe is incorrect. There is no communal angle to the matter. We don’t look at the perpetrator’s religion, but the nature of the offence. No matter what religion or area they may be from, it is the police’s job to investigate and bring them to justice. This video is being shared on social media with a false claim,” he furthered.
ETV Haryana also covered the incident.
On March 25, a YouTube channel Republic Mewat reported about the case. The channel said that Haryana policemen collided with a Congress leader’s vehicle. This led to a skirmish where the locals began hitting the cops. We discovered that the vehicle hit by the police car belonged to Khurshid Ahmed, who served as BJP district minister from Bharatpur for 30 years and joined Congress in 2018. Alt News reached out to him. “This case is a month old and people are sharing it with false claims. There was no communal angle. My old friends who are upset because I joined Congress are sharing this, even though I was part of the BJP for 30 years. The police car collided with mine and the same people began hurling abuses at me. I won’t lie, I did the same. The matter escalated and the policeman beat up a person standing next to me. Seeing this, Hindu bystanders from nearby shops also came and began beating the policemen. Both parties got physical,” he explained.
A video from February was shared online with the false claim that the local police were under threat and being attacked in the Muslim-majority area of Mewat. This is the third time that the video made a reappearance.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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